Jared Knight jousts for Boston Bruins' interest

By Rich Garven TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Saturday

Jun 30, 2012 at 12:21 AMJun 30, 2012 at 12:29 AM

The Bruins and Maple Leafs went from being division rivals to trade partners on Sept. 18, 2009, the result being talented but temperamental center Phil Kessel was shipped to Toronto for three draft picks. Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli got himself a pair of first-rounders, which he used on forward Tyler Seguin (second overall, 2010) and defenseman Dougie Hamilton (ninth overall, ’11).

The Bruins and Maple Leafs went from being division rivals to trade partners on Sept. 18, 2009, the result being talented but temperamental center Phil Kessel was shipped to Toronto for three draft picks.

Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli got himself a pair of first-rounders, which he used on forward Tyler Seguin (second overall, 2010) and defenseman Dougie Hamilton (ninth overall, ’11).

The speedy and skilled Seguin led the Bruins in scoring as a sophomore last season while the equally highly-touted Hamilton, who turned 19 on June 17, is expected to be skating with the varsity this season — assuming the owners and players work out their differences and there is one. So there has been a quick return on the investment.

The third pick in the Toronto heist was a 2010 second-rounder, the Bruins using the 32nd overall selection on forward Jared Knight. The 20-year-old Michigan native likely will spend this winter in Providence, although Boston is a possibility.

Those decisions are made by others. The only thing Knight can control is himself, and the plan is to show up here for training camp in September looking to make a positive impression.

“I’m just going to come in like I have the last few years, in shape and play my hardest,” he said this week during a break in the Bruins’ sixth annual Development Camp at Ristuccia Arena. “That’s really all you can do. It’ll be my third time going to a training camp, so I’ll kind of know what to expect and give it my best.”

The Bruins do have an opening up front after trading Benoit Pouliot to Tampa Bay last week. Although it’s apparently been bequeathed to Jordan Caron, the 5-foot-10, 198-pound Knight plays the kind of hockey the front office and fans in Boston are absolutely enamored with.

In other words, don’t rule him out.

“Knighter is kind of a player who thrives on playing in straight lines and going to the net and playing in the dirty areas,” assistant general manager Don Sweeney said. “He just has to realize he’s been able to do some of the stuff physically at the junior level that, at the next level, these guys are going to be bigger and stronger and he’s going to have to understand how to get that space back against bigger players who can push back equally as hard as he can push. So there’s probably going to be an adjustment period for him.”

Knight will mix it up down low, but he’s more than a mucker. He’s got a hard, accurate shot and soft hands when it comes to passing. It all makes for a nice, balanced offensive game.

In four seasons playing for the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League, Knight collected 102 goals and 107 assists in 250 games. He had highs of 36 goals in 2009-10 and 45 assists in 2010-11.

“I consider myself to be a hard-nosed player,” Knight said, “a guy who will go hard to the net, will shoot from anywhere and has a good shot. Just overall a hard worker who is going to bring his heart to every game.”

The one thing lacking on the résumé is experience, although he did have a three-game stint with Providence — in which he registered two assists — two seasons ago. That Knight and the Knights advanced to the finals of the Memorial Cup in late May helped in that regard.

“Being in that environment, playoff hockey, you really can’t trade it,” Sweeney said. “That experience stuff that you go through at any level, to tell you the truth, when you’re trying to win and you know how hard it is and the guy across from you wants to win just as badly, those are things that separate players.

“Our business is about winning and there’s no question that we want those kids that want to be in that environment with that competitive nature, and we’re glad that he brings that to the table.”

London was swept in the finals by the host Shawinigan Cataractes, putting a damper on a great run by Knight that saw him produce eight points in 15 games despite playing on a gimpy ankle.

After taking a well-deserved vacation with his girlfriend in Jamaica, Knight resumed skating. Following the development camp, he’ll return home and amp up the personal workouts in anticipation of training camp.

The thought of having to go up against so many talented players for so few openings doesn’t bother him in the least.

“It’s encouraging — it’s competition,” Knight said. “That’s what happens. They try to draft the best players and you sort of duke it out with them. That’s good. The competition is good and it’s motivation to really work in the summer and try to get better.”

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